Who

E pur, si muove

You know it’s going to be a bad day when the first thing you read when you
wake up is that the PA Legislature is considering a bill that reads, in part:

Section 1. The act of act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14),
known as the Public School Code of 1949, is amended by adding a
section to read:
Section 1516.2. Teaching Theories on the Origin of Man and
Earth.--(a) In any public school instruction concerning the
theories of the origin of man and the earth which includes the
theory commonly known as evolution, a board of school directors
may include, as a portion of such instruction, the theory of
intelligent design. Upon approval of the board of school
directors, any teacher may use supporting evidence deemed
necessary for instruction on the theory of intelligent design.

The Scopes “Monkey Trial” was over 80 years ago, but we are still having to
deal with fallout from people who feel it is a cultural imperative that we
raise our children to be ignorant.

So, what can you do about it? Well, if you’re a Pennsylvania resident, I think
you should write your State Representative and tell them that you think this
legislation is a terribly bad idea. You can find out your representative’s
name and address by going to this page and
typing your zip code in the box in the upper-right corner.

Here’s the letter I’m writing.

Dear [Name of Representative here]:

I’m writing to you to urge you to oppose House Bill No. 1007, which I
believe will seriously compromise the quality of science education in
Pennsylvania public schools.

Science is not simply the collection and categorization of facts, but is the
practice of continually making observations, developing hypotheses, and then
testing those hypotheses. Because Intelligent Design does not offer any
empirically testable hypotheses, it is not science. Universities very actively
rate school districts based on the quality of the education they provide. If
Pennsylvania develops a reputation as a Commonwealth that provides a poor
science education in its public schools, it will be that much harder for our
children to gain admission to top Universities. This, in turn, will further
degrade Pennsylvania’s job market and tax base. Pennsylvania is already having
difficulty attracting and retaining young families and skilled workers. If
House Bill No. 1007 passes, families that care about the quality of their
childrens’ scientific education will have another reason to leave
Pennsylvania.

Any readers who want to write to their Representatives should feel free to
borrow from my letter, if you like. Of special interest to Western PA
residents is that the sponsors of the bill include Representatives Bastian
(Somerset County), Ellis (Butler County), and Petrarca (Westmoreland County).
The bill has been referred to the Education committee (see below for details).
I plan on sending my letter to all of the members of the committee. Perhaps
you should, too. Pittsburgh readers should especially note that Representative
Michael Diven and Thomas Stevenson, both members of the Education committee, are from Allegheny County.

Please contact your representatives before this gets out of the Education
committee. Write them, email them, call them. Let’s stop this before it
exposes Pennsylvania to national ridicule, not after.

Update: it occurs to me that there’s one other thing you can do. If you live
in Pennsylvania, and you have a weblog, either link to this article or write
your own article on the subject. I was shocked that this bill has gotten all
the way to committee without a word in our local papers. We’ve got to shine a
light into the dark corners of this legislation, and getting the word out
about it will be a good first step. Thanks.